Over the years, London has been the home of many
famous writers. Whilst not all of London’s writers were born in the city, many
considered it to be the place where they belonged. Here we will talk through
some of the famous writers that resided in London and their well-known works of
literature

This blue plaque can be
found outside Virginia Woolf’s previous home in Fitzrovia, London.

Virginia Woolf was born Adeline Virginia Stephen on
25th January 1882 in Kensington, London. The English writer is
regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth
century. Woolf was a significant figure of the London literary scene and a
member of the Bloomsbury Group. Her most famous work includes the novels Mrs
Dalloway, To the Lighthouse and Orlando. Woolf also wrote a book-length essay
titled ‘A room of One’s Own.’ This is generally regarded as a feminine text and
is praised for its argument for both literal and figural space for women
writers.

Woolf lived in Fitzrovia, a neighbourhood in
central London, close to London’s West End.Woolf was thought to be a regular
visitor of the Fitzroy Tavern, now home to the London Literary Pub Crawl.

George Orwell

George Orwell was the pen name for English novelist
and journalist, Eric Arthur Blair. Orwell became famous for his work which
raised issues concerning social injustice, totalitarianism and democratic
socialism. He is often regarded as the best chronicler of English culture
during the twentieth century and ranked second on The Time’s list of the fifty
greatest British writers since 1945. Orwell is probably best known for his
novel ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’ and novella ‘Animal Farm.’ Together the books have
sold more copies than any two other books by other twentieth century writers.
Orwell also wrote ‘Homage to Catalonia’ which was an account of his experience
of the Spanish Civil War, as well as numerous essays on politics, literature,
language and culture.

The Newman Arms in Fitzrovia is one of the pubs we
visit on our literary pub crawl and is thought to be George Orwell’s favourite
place to drink.

Fitzroy Road is the
street that Sylvia Plath lived on before her death.

Sylvia Plath was born on the 27th
October 1932 in Boston, Massachusetts. Although she was born in the States,
Plath is often regarded as a London writer, due to the fact that she lived in
the city for a while and died here in 1963. Sylvia Plath is regarded as the
poet who advanced the genre of confessional poetry. She is best known for her
two published poetry collections, The Colossus and Other Poems and Ariel. In
1982 Plath won a posthumous Pulitzer Prize for The Collected Poems. She is also
the writer behind the semi-autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar, which was
published shortly before her tragic death.

T.S Eliot

Thomas Stearns Eliot was one of the most famous
poets of the twentieth century. He was also an essayist, publisher, playwright,
literary and social critic. T.S Eliot was born in St. Louis, Missouri, but
moved to the UK at the age of twenty five. At the age of thirty nine he was
naturalised as a British subject. Eliot spent the majority of his time in the
UK living in London. Some of his most famous work includes the poem ‘The Love
Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’ published in 1915, The Wasteland published in 1922,
and Four Quartets published in 1945. In 1948 T.S Eliot was awarded the Nobel
Prize in Literature.

These are just a few of the famous writers that
resided in the city of London over the years. If you are a writer or are
interested in finding out more about the literary greats, London is the best
place to visit.

About Us

Nick Hennegan

London

Hello. I'm Nick Hennegan and I started the London Literary Pub Crawl. Most of the blogs on here will be by me. I've always written but my first theatrical success was an adaptation of Shakespeare's 'Henry V' (www.HenryVPlay.com) I founded Maverick Theatre in 1994. (www.MaverickTheatre.co.uk) This pub crawl is really more a promenade theatre performance than a tour and I'm running it with a bunch of enthusiastic local actors and writers. I love sharing my passion for the area and the artists. I also present a radio show on Resonance 104.4fm - London's Arts Station and a podcast on our site.
If you haven't visited us in London yet, I hope you'll come soon. And feel free to leave comments or email me at nick @ LondonLiteraryPubCrawl.com - I reply to them all and I love to hear from you.